Starting a School...?

Region 15 is a very high-performing public school district in our state. Chase Collegiate, Taft School, Westover, The Gunnery, Washington Waldorf and Fraser-Woods Montessori in Newtown-- there are so many excellent schooling options in our region-- why write a post ruminating on even the possibility of establishing a new, small, unique school in Southbury? What could Southbury and other regional residents want in a school in terms of excellence, effectiveness-- the very best for our beloved kids-- that isn't already available in spades, choices limited merely by ability to pay? One possible reason has to do with the number of families, right here in Connecticut as well as across the nation, who have elected to homeschool their children if their circumstances have made it possible. This growing demographic, the fastest-growing education choice in the nation as dropout rates in public schools have skyrocketed simultaneously, no longer merely fits the stereotype of sheltered fundamentalist Christians educating their kids in a faith-based environment. Read my previous 'blog Post on the subject for more on this, but to summarize: many families are disillusioned by conventional, systemized education's myopic and intensifying focus on teaching to standardized tests, standardizing student minds to fit a preordained and inflexible top-down program of content, which neither students nor teachers are allowed to deviate from in developing creative, truly critical, independent thinking, and Learning in its most basic and glorious sense. I believe that a small, community-based, independent school, with a maximum of schedule and tuition flexibility for participating families, and a minimum of top-down, state or federal mandates forcing learning into narrow, controlled conduits of content, would be a great resource for this community and anyone within the greater neighboring region. With three years on faculty at a Sudbury School in upstate New York (see www.sudval.org for more about the original Sudbury Valley School, not far away in southern Massachusetts and over 40 years in existence), several years homeschooling both my own daughter and as a mentor to over 15 homeschooled students from pre-K through age 12, and three years public school teaching in an urban public high school, as well as a year's experience at Pomperaug High School working alongside Special Education students, I believe I am the right person to help establish an effective, excellent independent small school serving as a bridge between those who have chosen (or are tempted to choose) homeschooling for other than religious reasons primarily, and those who would like their kids educated among other kids in a school environment. The school could also be affordable enough to serve as a bridge between "free" public schools and much more expensive private schools available in this region only to those who can afford it. As I do not have the means to fund a school startup, this is just an initial, very preliminary outline of what such a school might be like. What it becomes will depend on the community's response-- your response, if this Post evokes any initial interest or curiosity in You. I believe I will soon establish a Meetup on this subject in the area, to see if anyone has sufficient interest to show up and discuss this possibility in-person, regardless of result. If you've never used Meetup.com, just visit the site and search-- I believe I'll call the group "Southbury Small School Startup" or something similar. I would be interested in anyone's Comments in response to this brief hint at what this idea might become, if any have an interest in pursuing (or merely discussing) it as well. Thank you for your attention, and any response. With three children of my own, this is as important to me as your children are to you.